Somewhere better
by LadyRogue1881
Summary: A different take on how Rogue and Gambit grew up. ROMY.


A/N: This is my first X-men story. Just a heads up I'm absolutely crap at writing accents, so please forgive that, if it doesn't work out, I'll just stop trying, you should know what they sound like. Another point is Rogue and Gambit are my favorite characters and my favorite X-men couple, so this is definitely going to be a ROMY, just like all my other X-men fanfics will be. Anyways, enjoy!

I always hated my Momma's parties, she always threw them, no matter what the occasion. She told me that this party was very important, that because we've moved to a new place, we should get to know the neighbors, and throwing a party was the best way of doing that.

So, like always, I was dressed in a stupid pale pink party dress and my hair done up in a bun, I didn't understand why I had to get all done up, I think it's only fair that our new neighbors see what I really wear instead of seeing me all preppy.

"Anna, the guests will be arriving soon, come downstairs," My Momma informed me as she walked past my bedroom door. She was wearing a short, shiny silver dress that looked like she'd just wrapped herself in aluminum foil.

I grouchily slid off my new bed and made my way out of my half unpacked room and down the wide staircase, making clattering sounds at the little heels of my sandals hit the marble floor.

The reason why we moved was still unclear to me, I thought my Momma and Aunt Irene had been happy in Mississippi, but one day I was woken up in the middle of the night by Momma with her telling me to pack a bag and that we had to leave. After two weeks of staying in different hotels, we finally moved into a large mansion in the French Quarter of New Orleans, again the reason for this exact place was unclear.

My Aunt Irene was already downstairs, sitting in her rocking chair with a blank expression on her face, I've always been told not to disturb her when she had that look, because apparently she's 'seeing things', which I don't understand since she's blind.

Moving over to the long table in the corner of the room which was covered in platters of food, I pulled a face at all of the food, none of it looked tasty; it mainly consisted of fish and some kinds of rice.

"No touching the food until the guests arrive," My mother instructed me as she descended the stairs, I didn't bother telling her that I had no intention of touching the food, instead I sat down on the puffy sofa which I always sank down into.

Just as my mother began to survey the food to make sure I hadn't ruined the arrangements, the doorbell rang, signalling the first of our guests. Momma instantly moved toward the front door, while I wondered if it was possible for the sofa to swallow me up.

After about an hour of being introduced to new people, I was feeling dead of my feet, I was already tired of hearing how cute I looked in my little dress, even though some spoke in French, I still got the gist of what they were saying as they smiled down at me.

One of the main reasons I was bored was because of the lack of other children, so far I hadn't seen one, maybe there wasn't any children at all around here, if that's the case; maybe we'd get thrown out because children aren't allowed.

Another half an hour passed before I felt my luck change. I was sitting on the bottom step of the marble staircase when the doorbell rang for the hundredth time and my mother went running to answer it. She led in a man with a long brown pony tail, and trailing behind that man was a boy wearing sunglasses, he looked taller than me but he was still a kid like me.

"Anna, come here, honey," Momma said, I quickly obeyed, eager to talk to somebody closer to my own age.

"This is Jean Luc, and this is his little boy, Remy," Momma introduced. I smiled like I did whenever she went through introductions, but this time there was a little more energy. However, looking at the boy, I doubted he's be fun, mainly because of how uncomfortable he looked as he practically hid behind his father.

"Why don't you talk to Remy, instead of being around us boring adults?" My mother suggested, not oblivious to my boredom.

"Dat would be nice for you, Remy," Jean Luc spoke as he reached behind him and pushed the little boy in front of him, toward me. "Just remember what I told ya, oui?" Then my mother led the man away to the other adults.

The two of us stood awkwardly for a few moments, I didn't really know what to say to him and he didn't seem like he wanted to be here, he was staring down at his shuffling feet, well I think he was, it was difficult to see because of his sunglasses.

"Hi," I finally said, I'd never been good at talking to strangers, but standing in silence wasn't going to get us anywhere.

"Hello." He replied quietly keeping his head down.

Another silence took over us, even the loud chatter of the adults wasn't enough to make the silence less pronounced.

"Do you want to go play out in the backyard?" I offered, maybe he was like the other little boys back in Mississippi, they loved running around outside, that's how I managed to make friends with them, because I liked running around with them, too.

The boy nodded a little with a small shrug. I smiled, happy that he was being cooperative and began to lead the way toward the double glass doors that led out to the huge garden. Away from the boring adults, as I walked with the boy trailing behind me, I noted my mother was watching me closely, when I met her eye, she just smiled at me before turning back talking to the overly blonde woman.

Outside was my favorite, there was a gigantic tree and I couldn't wait for a treehouse to be made. I made my way over to the tree to sit under its shade, the boy, Remy, still following silently.

"So, do ya want to play a game or something?" I asked as he sat down like me, but like inside, he kept his head down, I didn't know if he was shy or if he just didn't want to talk to me. He shrugged in response.

After a few quiet moments, I decided I'd ask him about his glasses, why he was wearing sunglasses when he was inside.

"Why do you wear sunglasses?"

He turned to me, his expression looked almost alarmed for a second before he replied. "Ta protect my eyes from de sun," The way he said it made it sound like the answer was obvious.

"But why did ya keep them on inside?"

"De lights were too bright,"

"The lights weren't on," I pressed, I didn't like being lied to, and I didn't understand why he was lying to me about a pair of sunglasses.

"Well, it was still bright inside," He snapped, but then he sighed almost dejectedly. "Can you keep a secret?"

I nodded eagerly, I was always very good at keeping secrets, from my momma being able to change her appearance to having to keep quiet about why my momma couldn't pick me up from school, I certainly couldn't say that it's because she had too much dizzy juice the night before.

Remy looked toward the house and then around the yard, before he got to his feet and moved around the tree so he was hiding behind it. It was now my turn to follow him.

I noted that he was shaking, and I was suddenly worried about what the secret could be, if it was that bad maybe he shouldn't tell me.

"Please just promise you won't run away," It came out in a whisper.

"Why would I run away?" I asked.

He slowly raised his hands and took hold of the sunglasses, he removed them but his eyes were tightly shut. Maybe he didn't have any eyes, and that's why he didn't want to show me, because it would scare me, no that doesn't make any sense.

"Remember, don't run away," It sounded like he was pleading.

Remy let out a deep sigh before his eyelids gradually opened, I wasn't sure I wanted to know what he was hiding, but a big part of me did want to know.

It was difficult to stifle my gasp when his eyes fully opened, his eyes were red, and where there should be white in his eyes, there was black. I wasn't sure how to react, I understood why he asked me not to run, but I don't know why he'd think I would.

"That's why you wear sunglasses?" I questioned to which he nodded. "Well, you shouldn't, I don't think your eyes are that bad, they're special, and they make you special."

A small smile tugged at the sides of his mouth, but his peculiar eyes were filled with sadness. "My Pere don't see it that way, he tells me not to let anybody outside of the family see my eyes, because then they'd know I'm different,"

"That's what your dad meant by what he said?"

Remy nodded and began to put his glasses back on, I quickly stilled his hand. "You don't need to do that around me,"

He smiled again and dropped his head, this time however, I swore I could see him look almost embarrassed. I sat down against the tree and just like before, he did the same, except there was no awkwardness surrounding him.

We spoke for a while, about ourselves, I'd learned that he came from a large family with lots of brothers and cousins, that he lived in a mansion bigger than mine, and also that his Tante Mattie was the best cook in the world.

The more he spoke, the more animated he became and the more he seemed to relax. When he was telling me about how he wanted to be just like his older brother Henri, he was moving his hands around a lot, as he did so, his sleeve fell back slightly and my eyes were drawn to a large bruise around his wrist, he noticed just as it processed in my mind what it was and he yanked his sleeve back in place and almost recoiled into himself, becoming the quiet boy he was when I first met him about an hour and a half ago.

"What happened?" I inquired, it looked like a real nasty bruise.

He didn't answer straight away and I thought that I wouldn't get an answer, but he then he whispered. "We're friends right?"

"Of course," I quickly said, even though I wouldn't really say we _were _friends, usually it takes a little longer to become friends with someone, doesn't it? But then again, I did like him.

"My Pere gets angry at Remy a lot,"

"He did that to you?" I hissed. Why would a parent do that to their child?

Remy didn't reply, but instead changed the conversation. "Do you want to play tag?"


End file.
